A NEW fundraising lottery which is based on the weather could generate extra cash for organisations on Teesside. The Teesside Mohawks Basketball Lottery will not only help fund the team, but incentives will be offered to other local groups who struggle
THE announcement last night that three banks have abandoned plans to charge for the use of cash machines has rightly been described as a victory for consumer pressure. The competition for our money has never been greater with the advent of Internet banking
WHY is Sunderland FC called the Black Cats when the players wear red and white? Newcastle United are presumably Magpies because they are in black and white? - A Hagger, Newton Hall, Durham. BLACK Cats is an official nickname voted for by Sunderland fans
MENTION the phrase "Zero Tolerance" to any policeman and the response will be a sharp intake of breath. It's a concept of policing that has been steeped in controversy ever since its inception in New York City in 1994. Tough-talking police commissioner
GAS pipeline operator Transco is doing its bit to help the unemployed on the doorstep of one of its North-East sites get back on the road to work. The firm has joined forces with Into Work (Sunderland) Ltd to provide jobs and training opportunities for
A LEAKED document detailing the threat to manufacturing industry caused by remaining outside the euro has been labelled "hysterical" by a North-East business group. Fresh evidence that the strength of the pound is hitting industry is set to emerge today
BRITAIN'S highest award for bravery will be worn with pride at a ceremony to honour a hero of the First World War. The Victoria Cross won by Donald Bell, the only English professional footballer to receive the accolade, will be worn by his great-niece
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM THE power of the Prime Minister is great, is growing and needs to be curtailed. The power to create peers to fill the new House of Lords is an abuse of power, as the composition of the Lords is completely undemocratic. The Wakeham
A LEADING North-East trade unionist has accused New Labour of being out of touch and in danger of losing the support of its heartlands. NUM Durham area secretary David Hopper, writing in the brochure for Saturday's Durham Miners' Gala, attacked Labour
AFTER beating a Sicilian to defend his world championship title last week, County Durham's own world junior kick boxing champion could now face a Russian. Lanchester lad Craig Richardson, 15, made his first defence of the championship against Manuel Russo
AN 81-YEAR-OLD woman died in her warden controlled bungalow yesterday, only two weeks before her council landlords were due to install a smoke alarm. Firemen found the body of Annie Bell in the smoke-filled bedroom of her house in Woodland Road, Esh Winning
teenage batsman Richard Evans knocked up an unbeaten 177 before his club captain declared. But it was only afterwards that red-faced skipper Ian Cruikshanks realised 16-year-old Richard had equalled the club's near 100-year-old batting record. Hanging
THE Lindisfarne Gospels are heading back to their spiritual home - but only for a three-month stay. Newcastle's Laing Art Gallery confirmed that the mediaeval masterpiece, compiled when the Northumbrian region was the centre of Christian culture, will
COMEDY actress Vicki Michelle took time off from appearing at a North-East theatre to open a local garden fete. The television star, who sprang to fame in the television series Allo, Allo, did the honours at the summer fete at George Dent Nursery School
ATTENDANCES at a County Durham agricultural show plummeted over the weekend - and it was all beyond the organisers' control. Rain yesterday kept the crowds away from Lanchester Show, providing mixed fortunes for the annual event. Despite the damp and
WONDERBRA supermodel Adriana Sklenarikoua is leaving her Paris penthouse to live on Teesside. The Slovakian beauty has confirmed she will join her French husband, Christian Karembeu, in Middlesbrough, when he completes his £2.1m move to the Boro from
POLICE have confirmed they are treating as suspicious a fire in a flat after which an elderly woman was taken to hospital. The pensioner, who has not been named, was admitted to Bishop Auckland Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation following the fire
NEWCASTLE Falcons director of rugby Rob Andrew is to officially open the new extended endoscopy suite at Darlington Memorial Hospital this week. The suite, which will allow the hospital to expand its endoscopy services, has been funded by a £470,000 Government
A RAIL company has unveiled its plans to reshape the future of travel in the region by promising to attract more customers away from cars and on to trains. Arriva launched its campaign, part of a bid to take over the Transpennine franchise, currently
FROM Redcoat to academic to the rainforest - that's the unusual career path one man has taken with help from one of the region's universities. Michael MacNaughton, from Stockton, spent 14 years in the catering industry before achieving his goal of returning
TORY leader William Hague has pledged that a future Conservative Government will allow councils to return to the committee structure abandoned in the recent controversial shake-up of local government. Mr Hague is also criticising the Government's partial
AN east Durham town's love of home-made chips is placing its residents at serious risk, a fire safety officer has warned. In less than three months, 16 out of 18 house fires in Peterlee have been started by overheated chip pans, with two more kitchen
THE country's only potash mine opened its doors on Saturday to give visitors an insight into what goes on underground. The Cleveland Potash Mine at Boulby, on the East Cleveland border with North Yorkshire, is one of the deepest mines in the country.
MORE than 1,500 schoolchildren and teachers from Hartlepool are making their way to London today to join in celebrations at the Millennium Dome. At least 30 coaches and mini- buses set off at 6am this morning for a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the
A SPATE of thefts in a County Durham town is being blamed on heroin-addicted youngsters who steal to feed their habit. Police in Newton Aycliffe say that the addicts are behind thefts from cars and of clothes from washing lines. About half a dozen cars
AN appeal has gone out to latter-day beauty queens to help piece together the colourful history of an East Durham holiday centre. For generations, Crimdon Dene thrived as a local tourist attraction and now its fascinating heyday years are to be revived
WORKERS have been taking it easy in the name of raising money for charity. Staff at Darlington Bedding Centre raised £100 for St Teresa's Hospice in the town by spending the day in bed. The company challenged people to take time out of their working day
IT is hoped real ale lovers will get into the millennium spirit at a mini beer festival. Tow Law, near Bishop Auckland, is running a series of events to mark the millennium. Following on from its community festival, people can continue the merrymaking
CHILDREN have been working with a ceramic artist for more than two years to produce artwork depicting the millennium. Jenny Morten has been working with year seven, eight and nine pupils at Hurworth Comprehensive School for two years to make the ceramic
PROPOSED use of a quarry between Brompton-on-Swale and Scorton as a landfill waste site has been condemned by councillors. Richmondshire planning committee voted to object to North Yorkshire County Council's inclusion of Tancred quarry in its draft waste
HAIRDRESSER Lee Spencer is taking his 16 years of experience, mostly with top salons, to Asia to lecture on the latest British styles. Lee, 32, from Teesside, has worked in Saks' Darlington salon for more than a year and has experience with top high street
THE funeral of a farmer killed in a holiday para-gliding accident will take place tomorrow. Father-of-two Colin Mitchelson, 49, died in the accident in Turkey on June 21, on the last day of a holiday with his wife, Susan. Both Mr Mitchelson and his Turkish
FOUR men were arrested by Darlington police after a man was attacked and left lying unconscious in an alleyway. The local man, who is in his twenties but has not been named, was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital at 9.40am on Saturday with injuries
A NEW milking parlour has helped a dairy farmer pick up an accolade. Neil Barker, who runs Thornborough Farm, Northallerton, has been named Dairy Farmer of the Year by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society. Mr Barker, who took over the 245-acre family farm
SHOPPERS are being given the opportunity to breathe more easily thanks to a special market stall. As part of its Healthy Homes Scheme, Middlesbrough Borough Council is running a stall at North Ormesby market between 9am and 3pm tomorrow. Information and
ONE of the most deprived parts of Newton Aycliffe may be getting its own neighbourhood warden to improve conditions, if sufficient funding can be secured. Sedgefield Borough Council is taking part in a national strategy of neighbourhood warden schemes
Downing Street last night moved to end the privacy row over a picture of baby Leo Blair by saying it held no grudge against The Northern Echo. The photograph, published on our front page on Saturday, had sparked a national controversy. It was taken by
TELEVISION'S Big Breakfast show is heading North in its search to find a new face for its weather slot. Presenter Lisa Rogers, a panel of experts and mystery celebrity guests will be at Newcastle's Old Assembly Rooms, in Fenkle Street, on Saturday in
A MUSLIM cemetery is to be extended following concerns that there may be no more available grave plots by this time next year. There are 25 available plots in the Muslim section of Thorntree Cemetery in Middlesbrough and the borough council says these
TONY and Cherie Blair have done a remarkable job in protecting their children from the limelight and they are to be applauded for it. If one of the Prime Minister's children walked down the street, few people would notice. That is a tribute to their parents
POLICE are appealing for witnesses after an incident in which an intruder assaulted a woman who found him lurking outside her home. The incident happened between 11pm and 11.30pm last Thursday on Londonderry Road, Stockton, near its junction with Clay
A BLAZE at a salvage yard has caused damage estimated at tens of thousands of pounds. The fire at D&S Commercial Salvage on the Albert Hill Industrial Estate, Darlington, which is being treated as suspicious, badly damaged a corrugated metal factory
RESIDENTS living in Teesside are being given the chance to have a go at a series of woodcrafts. The Tees Forest, in partnership with local authorities, are holding a series of one-day summer courses providing expert tuition at countryside sites at Hartlepool
A BUDDING ship-mate was given a rare chance to enjoy life on the ocean wave thanks to the Royal Navy. Mark Heeley from Linthorpe in Middlesbrough entered a competition on Century Radio and won the opportunity to join HMS York as it took part in sea trials
It was a toss-up which was the heavier - the expectations of a nation or the serve of Mark Philippoussis. In the end Tim Henman coped admirably with the first and not so well with the second as his Wimbledon dream was shattered by the big-hitting Aussie
NEWCASTLE United are ready to cut their losses on £8m striker Duncan Ferguson, writes CLIVE HETHERINGTON. Rangers supremo David Murray yesterday revealed that the big Scot is being hawked around and that his club had been approached about taking injury-plagued
IT took just minutes to sweep through but it destroyed the homes and lives of residents in a North-East village. Yesterday, devastated families in Skinningrove, east Cleveland, were trying to come to terms with the chaos caused when floods wrecked their
THE prospect of a £1 litre of petrol in the North-East and North Yorkshire is within sight - provoking a renewed attack on fuel duty. A garage in North Yorkshire is now charging 99.9p for a litre of lead replacement petrol, the equivalent of £4.54 a gallon
THE Virgin Rail Group last night unveiled its plan for the future of the East Coast line - changes that will see one of the biggest upheavals in the history of the railways. Proposals include a new East Coast rail line, which the Virgin Group says will
Bank customers were celebrating victory last night in the long-running battle over cash machine fees. Three major banks bowed to public pressure and announced they were abandoning plans to charge for the use of the ATM machines from January 1. First HSBC
HAMILTON'S leading trainer Linda Perratt looks set for yet more success at the popular Scottish course today via her useful sprinter Get Stuck In (3.45). Perratt's outstanding record at the south of Glasgow venue speaks for itself knocking in no less
CEMENT group Blue Circle, which employs 180 workers at its Weardale plant, has revealed a recovery in its markets despite announcing 350 job losses a fortnight ago. The company said cement demand in the first five months of the year was ahead of last
PETER Barratt's Garden Centre in Stockton has strengthened its team with the appointment of a new warehouse manager. Mark Campbell, 31, from Thornaby, is responsible for dealing with suppliers, checking in goods and making deliveries. As well as furthering
DANCING Queens from across Teesside took picnics, flares and big hair to a sell-out special outdoor concert featuring ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again. More than 7,000 people packed into the grounds of Ormesby Hall and were treated to five hours of seventies
TEN real ales from across the UK will be featured at an annual real ale festival to be staged in County Durham this weekend. The festival, which has been organised by Sedgefield Community Association Social Club, opens at the town's Ceddesfeld Hall on
A NORTH-EAST motorcyclist pulled out of a race just one lap before it claimed the life of legendary biker Joey Dunlop. Last night, Ray Hutchinson's wife, Valerie, described how her husband, in common with many other British riders, was cutting short his
CHILDREN from a North-East junior school hope a prize-winning song will help their garden grow. For pupils at Bowburn Junior School have been asked to perform their composition We Are One at an educational conference at Sunderland's Stadium of Light.
THE parents of North-East hostage Keith Mangan say they will never give up hope of seeing their son alive - five years after he was kidnapped at gunpoint. On the eve of the fifth anniversary of her son's disappearance in Kashmir, Mavis Mangan said last
TORRENTIAL rain brought misery to many parts of the North-East yesterday as half the month's usual rain fell in just six hours. Worst hit were Redcar and villages in east Cleveland, with Skinningrove bearing the brunt as water became waist deep when the
RESIDENTS in two areas hit by flooding last month will get their chance to talk with representatives of the Environment Agency today and tomorrow. South Church and West Auckland, near Bishop Auckland, County Durham, were devastated by the floods four
BELSAY Hall near Newcastle is to be one of the venues for a photographic exhibition being held by television's The History Channel. The satellite channel is inviting people to send in snaps which capture a moment in history. The best entries will be exhibited
THE world's largest charitable hospital ship is docked in the region this month. Anastasis, the flagship of the international charity Mercy Ships, is at Newcastle's Spillers Wharf as part of her millennium tour. It has been in Africa for 21 months, but
A boost is thought to be on its way for a North-East tank builder. The future of Vickers Defence Systems, at Scotswood, Newcastle, has been overshadowed by sell-off rumours since its acquisition by Rolls-Royce last year. A key to its future health is
ONE of the region's leading education institutions celebrated its 70th birthday yesterday, but is looking to its future rather than its past. It was called the Constantine Technical College when it was opened by the then Prince of Wales, but the college
THE unremarkable world of Durham Railway Station's Platform Two was the scene for an extraordinary reunion of three brothers, together for the first time in more than 50 years. Tears were fought back as Mike Dowling cast eyes on long-lost brothers Ralph
A CHURCH was the focus of much pride for members of the Durham and Yorkshire Scots Guards Association at the weekend. The association had its regimental star blessed and installed on a plinth at a special ceremony in St Andrew's Church, Haughton-le-Skerne
A NORTH-EAST man's website tribute to a railway pioneer is causing a stir around the world. And the guest book on the Age of Steam, John Metcalfe's site, has attracted comment from descendants of two of the region's historical figures. Railway enthusiast
A NORTH Yorkshire school was the first in the county to be presented with an environmental award when it was visited by a special guest. Tory leader William Hague, who lives less than a mile from Colburn County Primary, dropped in to present the school
AN 81-year-old man was in hospital last night with serious head injuries after he was knocked from his bicycle. The man, who has not being named, had been cycling along the Great North Road, at Gosforth, in Newcastle, on Saturday afternoon. A blue Ford
A NORTH Durham school's campaign to gain technology status gathered pace when a leading North-East businessman spoke in favour of the bid. Director and general manager of Thomas Swan Ltd, Dai Hayward, explained why a partnership with Moorside Comprehensive
AFTER 70 years behind closed doors, Durham Freemasons made a stylish public appearance at the weekend. Hundreds of masons, dressed in their finest regalia, gathered at Beamish Museum for a special meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge and to lay the foundation
SPECIALLY-designed mileposts for cyclists are to be installed in north-west Durham. The cast iron posts will help cyclists on the new £400m cycle network which goes through the Consett-Stanley area. Six mileposts are designed by Andrew Rowe and Jon Mills
MORE than 100 of Cleveland's youngest citizens enjoyed a fun day and picnic accompanied by their teddy bears. The pre-school youngsters are all part of the Playgroup Network Cleveland and they were joined by parents and helpers at Kirk-leatham Hall, near
MORE than 1,000 heart patients a year will benefit from an extra £70,500 in funding to extend a successful South Durham cardiac rehabilitation scheme. The additional money, which is part of a country-wide health improvement programme, will be used to
GOLFERS have helped raise cash for hospital equipment that should cut waiting lists for diabetics needing eye treatment. An appeal to raise £35,000 for an eye laser at Bishop Auckland General Hospital has received a £2,000 boost thanks to the success
PLANS to turn the empty Victoria hospital in Richmond into a funeral parlour have been approved in spite of reservations about road safety. Richmondshire District Council's planning committee backed proposals by Blenkiron Funeral Services to convert the
TRADE and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers has admitted that companies such as Nissan could "face difficulty" because of the strong pound and uncertainty over Britain joining the euro. He was speaking after Nissan's warning that future investment at its
AT 101, Ella Wearmouth has one goal - to be able to look after herself for the rest of her life. For 40 years, she has lived alone in Stanhope, Weardale, and intends to remain independent. The retired teacher celebrated her 101st birthday on Saturday,
A SCHOOL pool which was threatened with closure because it was underused is to be opened to the public during the summer break. Shildon County Primary School was one of three earmarked by Durham County Council in a consultation process, which stemmed
FACTORY bosses at Black and Decker have added weight to a campaign for a new children's nursery in Spennymoor. The company, which has a factory and service centre in Spennymoor, has written to the borough council to support a bid to open a new facility
PROPOSALS to convert one of North Yorkshire's most historic buildings into a funeral parlour could be resurrected after they were rejected by planners. Darlington funeral directors Seaton Leng had put forward proposals for Register House, Northallerton
A NORTH-EAST teacher is understood to be seeking compensation after claiming she suffered injuries while filling out an application for a pay rise. The woman, who works at an unnamed secondary school in the region, is said to have been left with back
TWO children have helped to open a £780,000 road they hope will improve their town's future. Joanne Carlyle and Andrew Cox, both 11, joined North West Durham MP Hilary Armstrong and Durham County Council leader Don Robson to open the road which completes
A TOWN crier heralded the opening of Durham City's Summer Festival, which attracted hundreds of visitors from all over the region at the weekend. The programme of events fell victim to the vagaries of the British weather, with one day of sunshine and
THE North-East is to be included in a British Transport Police crackdown on luggage thieves. Operation Joint Venture II will target the East Coast main line this summer, with Darlington and Newcastle among the areas to receive special attention. Detectives
PEOPLE who have experienced mental health problems are putting on an art display in Redcar Library. The artists attend Redcar and Cleveland Mind's arts and crafts sessions at Redcar Day Service at Dove House, in Turner Street. The service provides an
THE history of an east Durham seaside town will be unveiled during a specially organised walk tomorrow. Starting at the cliff top car park at Old Seaham, the walk will follow the "time line" plaques set into pavements which lead into the town. The "line
A NEW child care group for "little monkeys" is to open just in time for the summer holidays in East Durham. Chimps, based at the Youth and Community Centre in Horden, was set up with the help of a £28,000 grant from the National Lottery New Opportunities
HEADTEACHERS in Hartlepool are to hold a series of seminars highlighting the dangers of underage drinking. Every parent of a child aged 12 to 15 in the town is invited to attend a special seminar on the dangers of alcohol abuse among teenagers. Six one-hour
MORE new street lights are being installed in Hartlepool to give residents peace of mind. Work starts in August to erect 170 new lampposts and lamps in the Owton and Rossmere areas. They will be installed in Torquay, Berkeley and Mardale Avenues, Earlsferry
A WASTEGROUND littered with used needles and rubbish could be incorporated into a youth club. People living in Upper Jackson Street and Upper Albion Street in Middlesbrough are angry that the nearby land has become a rubbish tip - raising concerns over
